Bathukamma is just the beginning

To mark the festivities of Saddula Bathukamma, MP and Telangana Jagruthi founder, K Kavitha, danced and sang age old songs of the festival of flowers along with members of her organisation and family in the premises of the CM Camp Office.

• Will revive Telangana art forms: Kavitha
• Perini Natyam proposed as State dance

“It is a proud moment for us and the result of seven years of our struggle to bring the festival to the forefront,” shared Kavitha.

“Any people’s movement will be strengthened through the cultural aspects of the society and by focusing on Bathukamma we want to encourage women to participate in the Telangana movement. Celebrating it in Telangana State is a dream come true for us,” she added.

It was not very long ago that Bathukamma was reduced to a mere ritual like many other traditions and the younger generation was increasingly getting alienated from the tradition. And thanks to modernisation, the songs that have been passed on from generation to generation, from the elders to the young, were slowly fading away and along with it the many beautiful songs associated with the festival. And in a developing country like India, that has many issues like poverty, corruption, illiteracy plaguing it, culture and tradition – the one thread that hold the people together always takes a beating.

Telangana Jagruthi called it socio-cultural renaissance. Whatever was the intention, the scale of celebrations in the new state and the massive participation of the people from all sections has revived the tradition.

“The festival had attained the status of a state festival even in united Andhra Pradesh. But then the government just gave Rs 10 lakh and hardly did anything else. Every year the number of women coming to Tank Bund kept increasing and along with it the risk. We made several representations to build a separate ghat, but it was not heeded to. Now with our own state these issues have been addressed,” said Kavitha.

Talking about how the State would ramp up the festival of Bathukamma, Kavitha said, “Today, the live webcast is being watched by over 60 countries. We focused on popularising the festival in national and international media. However, due to lack of time, there are several aspects that could not be taken care of. This is just a beginning. Going forward we will be making it bigger. Next year, Telangana Jagruthi will go to 25 countries to celebrate Bathukamma. We hope to make it popular and colourful enough that people from everywhere will come to Hyderabad to celebrate the festival,” she shared.

While Bathukamma is an important cultural aspect of Telangana, there is a gamut of culture and tradition that is lying in oblivion. So are there any plans to revive the rich traditions that are aplenty in every district of the Telangana State?

To this Kavitha responds, “With Bathukamma getting the right attention, there are more demands coming our way. Perini Natyam is proposed as the State dance. The government is planning to work in that direction.”

There is so much to do, she elaborates, “There is tax on the wood that is required for Nirmal toys and a restriction on the artisans acquiring the wood on their own that needs to be removed, the Adilabad bronze statues need fillip, Chindu Yakshaganam needs support, Nizam’s jewellery and Telangana food need to be popularised, silver filigree work needs to be protected…and much more. We shall be concentrating on reviving the art and tradition of Telangana State.”

“Handicrafts are suffering across the world. If we create a market, there aren’t many artisans who can meet the demand. It is a challenge. We need to formulate a mechanism to protect and safeguard our crafts,” she admits.

Commenting about the tourism potential that the festival can generate in the future, Kavitha shares, “With the Metropolis Congress coinciding with the grand Bathukamma celebrations, delegates from over 70 countries will get to witness it. Why should we celebrate flowers and keep the city colourful just for a few days? Hyderabad should be colourful throughout the year. We should be a destination of flowers and more holistic in our approach. I spoke to the civic authorities and we shall work towards keeping the city green and colourful throughout the year.”